Dyeing cone stacks containing separator discs



I May 31, 1966 J. A. SOLTIS 3,253,436

DYEING CDNE STACKS CONTAINING SEPARA'IOR DISCS Filed July 30, 1962 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

JOHN A. SOLTIS BY ATTORNEY y 1966 J. A. SOLTIS 3,253,436

DYEING CONE STACKS CONTAINING SEPARATOR DISCS Filed July 50, 1962 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

JOHN A. SOLTIS ATfORNEY FIG. '5-

United States Patent This invention relates to a new type of spacer andsupport for textile fiber filament or yarn wound cones and morespecifically to a spacer suitable for separating perforated dyeing conesin dyeing operations.

Spacers are commonly employed between yarn wound cones which have beenbuilt into a stack preparatory to dyeing operations. The spacers, inaddition to centering the cones, prevent the base portion of one conefrom pressing against the yarn wound tip portion of the adjacent cone.As uneven pressure on the yarn results in uneven dyeing, the use ofspacers in stacked cone dyeing operations is essential. The spacers ofthe prior art have been designed, however, in a manner such that oneface is suitable for engaging the base portion alone of a cone while theopposite face is suitable for engaging the tip portion alone. In therapid stacking of yarn wound cones employing the spacer of the priorart, the wrong face of the spacer is frequently presented to the conethereby producing a nonaligned and unstable stack.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a separator disceither face of which will engage the tip portion or the base portion ofa truncated yarn dyeing cone.

Another object of this invention is to provide a yarn dyeing meansemploying a separator disc either face of which will engage the tipportion or the base portion of a truncated yarn dyeing cone.

In accordance with this invention, a spacer has been discovered eitherface of which is suitable for engaging the tip portion or the baseportion of a truncated yarn wound cone. The separator disc comprises anannular ring having beveled edges and having inwardly and outwardlyextending annular flange members, said flange members being positionedintermediate the faces of said ring perpendicular to the axis of saidring. The flange portions are preferably of a length equal to thethickness of the walls of the truncated cone which said flange portionsare designed to engage. The spacer, which may be made of any materialhaving dimensional stability, is preferably made of organic polymericplastic having dimensional stability at temperatures of at least about100 C. and perferably about 150 C. In fabricating the article of thisinvention, the plastic material may be either reinforced ornonreinforced plastic. Organic polymeric plastic materials which havebeen found to be especially suitable for purposes of this invention arematerials such as for instance polyethylene (high molecular weight),polypropylene, polyformal, polycarbonate, polyurethane, Delrin(polyacetal thermoplastic resin manufactured by E. I. du Pont de Nemours& Company) and the like.

A better understanding of the invention may be had from a description ofthe drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the spacer of this invention. FIGURE 2 is asectional side view of the spacer taken along the plane IIII ofFIGURE 1. FIGURE 3 is a sectional side view of a reinforced spacerhaving a plan view similar to FIGURE 1. FIGURE 4 is a brokendiagrammatical view partly in section showing a yarn dyeing installationin which the spacersof this invention are employed and FIGURE 5 is abroken diagrammatical view partly in section showing a yarn dyeinginstallation in which the spacers of this invention are employed.

3,253,436 Patented May 31, 1966 In FIGURE 1, a plan view of theseparator disc is shown comprising a ring 1 having beveled edges 2 andinwardly and outwardly extending annular flange members 3.

In FIGURE 2, a cross-sectional side view of the spacer is showncomprising an annular ring 1 having beveled edges 2 and inwardly andoutwardly extending annu'lar flange members 3. The flange members 3 arepositioned intermediate the faces of the ring 1 perpendicular to theaxis of the ring 1. The beveled edges 2 of the ring 1 form an obliqueangle with the flange members 3.

In FIGURE 3, a cross-sectional side view of a spacer having a plan viewsimilar to FIGURE 1 is shown comprising an annular ring 4 having bevelededges 6, an annular reinforcing member 7 is interiorly disposed withinsaid ring 4 and inwardly and outwardly extending annular flange members5. The flange members 5 are positioned intermediate the faces of thering 4 perpendicular to the axis of the ring 4. The beveled edges 6 ofthe ring 4 form an oblique angle with the flange members 5.

In FIGURE 4, a broken sectional diagrammatical view of a column oftruncated yarn wound cones spaced by the members shown in FIGURES l and2 and strung on perforated tubes ready for fluid dye treatment is shown.Referring to the drawing of FIGURE 4, yarn packages 13 on perforateddyeing cones 12 are separated and centered by spacer units 11. Thespacer unit 11 will engage either the tip portion of the perforatedtruncated cone 12 or the base portion of the perforated truncated cone12 regardless of which face of the spacer 11 is presented to the come.The spacer separated yarn packages are supported by and strung on theperforated tube 14. The yarn packages 13 are secured in place by meansof retainer 15 held down by a wingnut 16 threaded onto the top portionof the perforated tube 14. The stacked yarn package and perforated tubeassembly are retained within a chamber 17 having a loading hatch 18. Alow pressure seal is maintained between the base of the chamber 17 andthe base of the lowermost perforated truncated cone. This low pressureseal is retained throughout the stack by means of a firm juncturebetween the base and the tip portions of the perforated truncated cones12 and the spacer devices 11. The topmost low pressure seal is effectedby the retaining member 15 and the topmost perforated truncated cone.Pressure from the wingnut 16 provides a sufficient contact between thepreviously recited members to retain the low pressure seal. Dyeingmaterial from a tank 19 is then pumped into the chamber 17 by means of apump 20. The dyeing material is forced through the perforations of theperforated spindle 14 and then through the perforations in the cones 12and through the yarn packages themselves. In loading the chamber 17 ofFIGURE 4, the perforated spindles 14 and 14 are preferably loaded in amanner such that on each spindle the adjacent truncated cones arealigned tip to tip and base to base. An alignment of this type ispossible with spacer devices 11 and 11' in that spacer devices 11 and11' have identical faces either face of the spacer being capable ofreceiving either a truncated cone tip portion of a truncated cone baseportion. When the truncated cones 12 and 12' are stacked base to baseand tip to tip, the initial cones placed on their respective perforatedspindles 14 and 14' are deposited in opposite directions, that is tosay, truncated cone v12 deposited on spindle 14 is deposited base firstwhile cone 12 mounted on spindle 14 is deposited tip first. Theadvantage of the deposition of truncated cones in this fashion is that agreater amount of space within the chamber 17 is saved. The space whichis saved may be beneficially employed by winding thicker yarn packages13 and 13' on sleeves 12 and 12 respectively.

FIGURE 5 is a broken diagrammatical view partly in section of a columnof yarn wound cones spaced by the members shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 andstrung on a perforated tube 24. Truncated cones 22 supporting a yarnpackage 23 are aligned tip to base, the cones being spaced and securedby spacer member 21. Truncated cones stacked in the manner shown inFIGURE 5 require more space than cones stacked as illustrated in FIGURE4. It should be understood that although two systematic systems ofstacking have been set forth, that the spacer of this invention may alsobe used to stack cones in a random fashion.

The plastic spacer of this invenion may be prepared by any of thefabricating methods common to the plastic art such as for instanceinjection molding, flash molding, compression molding and the like. Whenthe plastic spacer of this invention is fabricated from organicpolymeric plastics alone, however, the thickness of any portion of thespacer is preferably not less than inch. When plastic spacers havingareas of less than /8 inch in thickness are prepared, it is found thatthe spacers lack dimensional stability, that is to say, the pressurefrom the stacked cones will warp the spacers and thereby prevent theformation of a firm seal between the cones which is necessary foreflicient dyeing operations. For maximum space utilization in the dyeingchamber, it is desirable that the spacer be as thin as possible. Whereultrathin spacers are required, they may be prepared by fabricating theplastic spacer around an annular reinforcing member such as a metal orfiber glass ring. An ultra-thin reinforced spacer of this type is shownin FIGURE 3. The reinforced plastic spacers may be fabricated with areasof about A of an inch in thickness, the ultra-thin spacer still havingsuificient dimensional stability to effect a seal between adjacenttruncated cones.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Dyeing cone stacks comprising truncated dyeing cones and separatormeans for mounting said cones either narrow end to narrow end, broad endto broad end, or

broad-end to narrow end, said separator means comprising an annular ringhaving beveled edges and having inwardly and outwardly extending annularflange members, said flange members being positioned intermediate thefaces of said ring perpendicular to the axis of said ring, said flangemembers being of a length substantially equal to the thickness of thewalls of said truncated cones.

2. The product of claim 1 wherein said separator means is made of anorganic polymeric material having dimensional stability at temperaturesof C.

3. The product of claim 1 wherein said separator means is made of a highmolecular weight polyacetal.

4. The product of claim 1 wherein said separator means has an annularreinforcing member interiorly disposed within said ring.

5. The product of claim 1 wherein said separator means has an annularreinforcing member interiorly disposed within said ring and wherein saidflange members have a thickness of about of an inch.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,928,252 9/1933Gollong 68198 2,065,526 12/1936 Huttinger 68-198 2,679,153 5/1954 Annicq68-198 3,015,945 1/1962 Jungbecker 68-498 FOREIGN PATENTS 990,235 6/1951 France.

175,574 10/ 1906 Germany.

443,194 4/ 1927 Germany.

479,930 2/ 1938 Great Britain.

624,441 6/ 1949 Great Britain.

102,316 8/ 1941 Sweden.

IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner.

1. DYEING CONE STACKS COMPRISING TRUNCATED DYEING CONES AND SEPARATORMEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID CONES EITHER NARROW END TO NARROW END, BROAD ENDTO BROAD END, OR BROAD END TO NARROW END, SAID SEPARATOR MEANSCOMPRISING AN ANNULAR RING HAVING BEVELED EDGES AND HAVING INWARDLY ANDOUTWARDLY EXTENDING ANNULAR FLANGE MEMBERS, SAID FLANGE MEMBERS BEINGPOSITIONED INTERMEDIATE THE